This instant invention is directed to a flexible, portable containment for collecting hazardous chemicals such as petrochemicals and the like. Environmental ground contamination is often the long term result of point of source spills of such materials during the transfer from one container to the other. A primary problem exists during the transfer of materials when servicing, to include fueling equipment and particularly vehicles.
Prior art structures for collecting petrochemical contaminants are all known in the art and have been used for years for preventing ground contamination with hazardous material. Examples of these known devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,671,024; 5,090,588; 5,316,175; and 5,762,233.
The 024 and the 588 patent devices allow vehicle entry and exit by providing resilient wall structures which are compressed during rollover and return or expand to their original upright position after rollover. These devices present storage and transport problems, reliability problems and cost problems.
The 175 and 233 patents disclose devices which utilize brace members which when positioned in one position retain the containment walls in an upright position and in a second position allow the walls to be folded flat for vehicle entry into the containment area. Should a contaminant be spilled into the containment area while this wall is in the flat folded or down position the contaminant will flow over the down wall and onto the ground. The devices of these products are otherwise reliable, easy to store and transport and are not cost prohibitive.
In order to insure that this situation does not occur it is a primary object of the instant invention to provide a flexible, foldable and portable containment with fail safe wall construction for vehicle traffic onto and off of.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a containment in which at least selected of its walls carry flotation devices.
Another object of the invention is a containment which is highly reliable and can withstand vehicle traffic onto and off of.
Another object of the invention is a portable containment which does not require assembly at the site.
Another object of the invention is a containment in which a plurality of flotation members are carried by selected wall members.
Another object of the invention is to provide a containment in which the wall bracing members will move from the folded position into the locked upstanding position due to upward wall movement.
Another objective of the invention is a containment in which provision is made to prevent human error causing ground contamination.